As references disclosing conventional machinery, there are Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-166582 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-20127.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-166582 discloses a maintenance system for machinery (or management system). This maintenance system is configured to operate as follows: When trouble occurs in machinery, if the operator informs a management section at a distant location of the trouble, the management section side instructs the operator to operate the machinery. When the machinery is operated, a receiving means of the management section collects operating state data obtained by that operation using a communications line and stores it in a received data storage unit. The stored operating state data is studied. In accordance with the findings of the study, a data rewriting means of the management section rewrites the related data stored in the storage unit of the machinery through the management section side transmitting/receiving means and machinery side transmitting/receiving means. Further, when the management section is provided with an operation instructing means, it causes the machinery to perform the necessary operation by a drive instructing means based on the content notified by the operator. Based on this operation, the above operating state data required for adjustment is collected.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-20127 discloses a control system for construction machines. This control system provides a plurality of outside IC cards for control devices mounted in the construction machines. These IC cards store inspection programs, troubleshooting programs, etc. normally not used. Each IC card is set in a control device as required. The programs stored in the set IC card are then read into and executed by the CPU of the control device to realize the required functions.
In the above conventional machinery maintenance system, when trouble occurs in machinery, a communications line is used to send operating state data of the machinery from the machinery side to the management section side, the trouble is analyzed at the management section, data for eliminating the trouble is sent from the management section to the machinery, and data stored in the storage unit of the machinery is rewritten by the sent data. Therefore, there is the advantage that the machinery maintenance system can perform efficient maintenance without sending a maintenance worker to the site of the machinery.
On the other hand, in the control devices mounted in construction machines, the amount of programs stored in the storage units has been increasing due to the recent increased sophistication of control and the need to realize more diverse functions or a greater number of functions and therefore the storage units built into the control devices have been required to offer greater capacities. Some of these functions are not normally required such as with inspection functions and troubleshooting functions.
Therefore, in the above conventional control system of construction machines, the not normally required functions are separately prepared by IC cards. Due to this, in accordance with need, an IC card is set to install and use programs so as to reduce the used capacity of the storage unit and realize diverse functions.
On the other hand, recently, in machinery such as hydraulic excavators, use of IT (information technology) is being studied in relation to the advances in intelligent machinery through the mounting of high performance computers and the storage of sophisticated function programs and user demands for the users to be able to freely change work. IT is expected to enable greater flexibility enabling user demands to be sufficiently handled, management of high performance machinery by the collection and transfer of data at manufacturers producing machinery or related companies, troubleshooting and individual maintenance of individual machinery, and the provision and proposal of sophisticated services to the users.
Under this situation, neither of the above two conventional systems is able to sufficiently handle the needs. Construction of a more sophisticated system actively using IT is therefore desired.
In particular, in hydraulic excavators, when changing the fronts or attachments to change the functions used, it is desired to transfer data through communications lines to quickly rewrite the control programs or data stored in storage units provided in the machinery to be able to handle the newly attached fronts etc. and therefore enable immediate work suited to the changed parts.
Further, in the actual use of hydraulic excavators, it is necessary to upgrade the programs and change the settings of the parameters. In such a case, in the past, a service worker had to go to the excavator at the construction site bringing floppy disks and rewrite the programs for every each machine. This is extremely troublesome and, including also personnel costs, very costly.
An object of the present invention is to provide a function changing system of machinery designed, in consideration of the above problems, so that a construction machine such as a hydraulic excavator can transfer information with a center server of a base station to rewrite control programs or data stored in its storage unit when for example changing a front, attachment, etc. and thereby perform work suited to the changed part.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a function changing system of machinery enabling simple change of programs or data for upgrading or other change of settings of parameters without trouble and enabling settings of a large number of hydraulic excavators to be simultaneously, efficiently changed.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a base station for managing a large number of machinery deployed at construction sites at distant locations and transferring control programs and data individually or all together with these machinery.